§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been drawn to a case in which a Dublin Police Magistrate, Mr. Byrne, has sentenced a man named M'Ginn to three months' imprisonment for being found in possession of blasting powder and fuse without a licence; whether it was proved on the hearing that M'Ginn had purchased the powder and fuse that day in a warehouse in Dublin, and had given correctly his name and address to the person who had sold the powder and fuse to him; whether the magistrate, without remanding or adjourning the case for inquiry, at once passed sentence on the prisoner, although the prisoner gave the name and address of his employer, on whose behalf he had made the purchase; whether, subsequently, the employer attended Court to prove that M'Ginn had bought the powder for his quarrying work, but the magistrate refused to hear him; and, whether M'Ginn will be released?
§ MR. TREVELYANA man named M'Ginn was arrested within the gates leading to the Castle Yard in Dublin, having in his possession, without licence, 2 Ibs. of blasting powder and several yards of fuze. He represented that he was going between two places in the city, the line of route between which would not take him by the Castle. His excuse being untrue, and the magistrate having before his mind the recent attempt to fire explosives into the barracks adjoining the Castle, believed that the labourer, having no business at the Castle, entering it with blasting powder and a fuze on his person, and giving a false excuse for his presence, was there with a mischievous intent, and he sentenced him to three months' imprisonment for having the ammunition on his person without a licence. On full investigation and consideration of all the circumstances of the case, the Lords Justices, acting in the absence of the Lord Lieutenant, have since commuted 842 the sentence, and the prisoner was discharged yesterday.